April 2002

Annual
Law Center Gala: The University of Houston Law Center’s 26th
Annual Auction-Gala, “Building on the Best” (March 23rd),
at the George R. Brown Convention Center was covered in the Houston
Chronicle on March 27th, noting the gala’s record $770,000
gross revenues (mistakenly reported as $634,000) and several principals,
among them, UHLC Alumna Patricia J. Lasher (‘86), Alumnus
Charles Parker (‘74), Alumnus Tommy Fibich (‘74),
Alumnus Robert Sussman (‘74).

Kudos &
Congratulations ...

Professor
Mary Anne Bobinski was named a John & Rebecca Moores
Professor - a University of Houston Honor acknowledging her scholarly
performance & contribution; and

Professor
Lonny S. Hoffman has been approved for candidacy on the Fulbright
Senior Specialists Roster, a list of approved candidates eligible to be
matched with incoming program requests from overseas academic institutions for
Fulbright Senior Specialists; and

Honorable Mention:
The Honorable Dean Nancy B. Rapoport was interviewed March 27th
on local NBC Channel 2's Morning Business Report about the resignation
of Arthur Anderson’s CEO and prospects for the company in bankruptcy,
and was also quoted in the March 28thHouston Press
article, “Living in a House of Cards,” regarding the Enron bankruptcy,
and again in a Houston Chronicle article about the former Enron
employees’ committee’s position in that bankruptcy, and again in the Chronicle
on April 4th regarding moving the Enron-Dynergy suit. The Law
Center was also mentioned on March 28th in the Houston
Chronicle, announcing the Honorable Professor Richard Alderman’s
April 13th “People’s Law School.”

On March
28th, the Honorable Professor David Crump was quoted in
the Daily News (New York), commenting on accused-murderer
David Durst’s (Galveston) self-defense claim. Also on March 28th,
the Honorable Clinical Professor Joseph Vail was quoted in the Houston
Chronicle regarding the Supreme Court’s recent Jose Castro
(v. NLRB) decision. The Honorable Professor Douglas Moll was quoted
in the March 29thHouston Chronicle about Walter
Hewlett’s challenge to Hewlett Packard’s method of obtaining shareholder
votes favoring acquisition of Houston’s Compaq Computer Corporation.

Reference was made
in the April issue of International Enforcement Law Reporter
to the Honorable Professor Jordan Paust’s casebook, International
Criminal Law, Cases & Materials (2nd ed., 2000).
On April 1st, the Honorable Professor David R. Dow and
the Honorable Associate Dean Sandra Guerra Thompson were quoted in
a Houston Chronicle article regarding defense claim in a recent
drug case where drug-sniffing dogs were used outside, but on, private premises
and whether that constitutes an unlawful warrantless search, and Dean Thompson
was interviewed about a recent Supreme Court case concerning bus passenger searches.

The Honorable
Professor Robert Schuwerk was quoted in the April 1st issue
of the Texas Lawyer regarding referral fees for law firm associates’
referrals to firms other than their employers. The Honorable Health Law
Research Professor Ronald L. Scott was interviewed April 1st
by local Houston radio KTRH 740 about physician assisted suicide
and euthanasia, including the new Dutch law.

The Honorable
Professor Raymond T. Nimmer was quoted April 5th in Lou
Dobb’s Moneyline regarding possible Congressional reaction to exemptions
for Enron executives, should they file in bankruptcy, and interviewed by CNN,
again concerning the Enron bankruptcy. The Honorable Professor Douglas
Moll and the Honorable Professor Richard Alderman were both quoted
in the Houston Chronicle on April 8th regarding suits
against Enron officers' and protections of their considerable exempt property.

The Honorable
Professor Joan Krause was interviewed April 10th on local
ABC Channel 13's 6:00p.m. news about the likelihood of convicted child-murderer
Andrea Yates’ physician being indicted. Prof. Krause was also quoted March
27th by Mental Health Weekly regarding efforts to change
Texas’ insanity defense. The Honorable Dean Nancy B. Rapoport was
quoted in the Dallas Observer regarding the Enron collapse and
role of lower-level employees. The Honorable Clinical Professor Joseph
Vail was interviewed on April 11th by the Legal Times
on changes in immigration law and procedure after September 11, 2001. The
Honorable Professor William Winslade was quoted April 11th
regard the President’s position on cloning used for research. The Honorable
Professor David R. Dow was quoted April 12th in the Houston
Chronicle about the third Penry mental competency review.

The Honorable
Professor Peter Hoffman was quoted in a Houston Chronicle
article April 13th concerning hostilities between Enron and Dynergy.
The Honorable Associate Dean Sandra Guerra Thompson was quoted April
14th in the Houston Chronicle concerning warrantless
searches. The Honorable Professor Ira Shepard was interviewed April
15th on local station KTRH - 740 AM about paying federal
income taxes by credit card. The Honorable Professor Ellen Marrus
was quoted April 20th in the Dallas Morning News
concerning siblings, ages 15 and 10 years, who allegedly killed their 6 year
old sibling; specifically, whether the 15 year old should be tried as an adult.

The Honorable
Professor David R. Dow was quoted in the Dallas Morning News
on April 14th regarding the Victor Saldano matter, a dispute between
Attorney General Cornyn and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and on April
18th regarding the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denial of Napoleon
Beazley’s petition for stay of execution, and again on April 22nd
in American Lawyer Media. Also on April 22nd in American
Lawyer Media, the Honorable Professor Robert Schuwerk was quoted
to the effect that an outright ban on sexual quid pro quo attorney-client
arrangements would be beneficial. The Honorable Professor Michael Olivas’
Keynote address at an awards ceremony in San Antonio was noted April
17th in the San Antonio Star.

The Honorable
Dean Nancy B. Rapoport was quoted April 22nd in the Houston
Chronicle regarding the merger or dissolution of mid-sized law firms.

By keeping an eye
on the TV when the Jack Roach Ford ads come on, one is bound to see and
hear our own Jim Lawrence in a lead television role.

Noteworthy
... Professor Richard Alderman, renowned as
“The People’s Lawyer,” also has regular columns in the Houston
Chronicle - Thursdays in the “This Week” section - and three
other newspapers, first appearing in 1980 and weekly since 1990. Prof. Alderman
has also done local PBS (Channel 8) shows for the past 8 years,
a Spring and a Fall show, each running for two weeks, where lawyer-volunteers
answer call-in questions and Law Center faculty and local practitioners
sometimes participate in the on-air telephone question answering. Finally,
Prof. Alderman recently completed his 600th “It’s the Law”
show, sponsored by the State Bar of Texas’ Young Lawyers Association
and syndicated weekly - Monday mornings - on local ABC Channel 13
and thirteen other Texas television stations, “... enough to get you 50 to
100 emails a day,” Prof. Alderman noted.

Professor
David R. Dow sponsors and coordinates local Innocence Network
activities, in which many Law Center students participate.
For instance, Mr. Kevin McAlpin was featured on local
NBC Channel 2 for his work on the Bud Sawyer matter, who was convicted
of a murder he did not commit, and Ms. Cathy Helenhouse appeared
on Fox TV affiliates in Houston (Channel 26) & Dallas, and
has been quoted in AP and other wire service reports in connection with the
James Byrd matter, who was imprisoned for a robbery committed by his
brother. Some 200 guests attended an Innocence Network Fundraiser
hosted by and at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Mithoff.

Health
Law Research Professor Ronald L. Scott publishes a quarterly column
called “Health Law Report” in Internal Medicine World Report,
a publication for internal medicine physicians. Recent topics include “HIPAA
Compliance in a Small Practice,” “Patient Friendly Billing,” and
other timely health law and policy topics. Prof. Scott also teaches a course
for foreign LLMs on the American Legal System as an Adjunct Professor.

Professor
Richard Alderman received the “Community Builder Award”
from the Masons’ Grand Lodge of Texas in "recognition of his
unselfish commitment to the community," the Masons’ highest award
to non-Masons, and designed to recognize people who have “distinguished themselves
through their service to the community, the local state or national government,
to their church or synagogue, or to humanity.” Recent recipients include
President George Bush, Mayor Bob Lanier, Jim “Mattress Mac” McIngvale, Dr.
Joe Aegris & Randy Tabor. Prof. Alderman also gave talks recently to
the Dickinson 55+ Club, Bellaire Presbyterian Seniors, S.C.O.R.E,
& to Friends of the Deer Park Library.

Professor
Mary Anne Bobinski will deliver a “Medical Liability”
speech to the University of Houston Optometry Continuing Education Program
May 5th, and on May 15th, a discussion of “Insurance
& Viatical Settlements” Houston Bar Association Section on AIDS
CLE May 15th, and a “Bioethics Update” at the 26th
Annual Health Law Teachers Conference of the American Society of Law,
Medicine, & Ethics in Indianapolis on June 8th. On March
6th, Prof. Bobinski spoke on “Ethical & Legal Issues in Gene
Therapy” to the Methodist Grand Rounds/Clinical Pharmacology Seminar
at the Texas Medical Center and, in April, on “Dealing with Your
Doctor and HMO” at Professor Alderman’s People’s Law School.

Rod Borlase
posted a new essay, “Writing vrs. The Writing Habit” (http://www.law.uh.edu/guides/WritingHabit.html)
to his research and writing website, Law Library & Legal Research Guides
(http://www.law.uh.edu/guides/).

Professor
Johnny Rex Buckles' article, “The Case for the Taxpaying Good
Samaritan: Deducting Earmarked Transfers to Charity under Federal Income
Tax Law, Theory & Policy,” appeared in the Fordham Law Review
(March 2002).

Professor
David R. Dow’s article, “The End of Religion,” appeared
at 16 Journal of Law & Religion 877 (2001), and his review
of the anthology, Human Rights in Judaism, will appear in that
journal’s next volume (2002).

Professor
Meredith Duncan will moderate a panel on the use of genetic
information in criminal law at the National Institute of HealthMeeting in Washington this summer.

Professor
Sanford Gaines moderated a panel on trade-environment issues
at the 3rd Annual Global Conference on Environmental Taxation,
held April 12-13th at the Vermont Law School and, the following
weekend spoke on "NAFTA & Cross-Border Sales of Water"
at the annual Canada-U.S. Law Institute at Case Western Reserve
School of Law. Prof. Gaines’ contribution to the book, Linking
Trade, Environment, and Social Cohesion, edited by University of
TorontoProfessors John Kirton and Virginia Maclaren,
"The Masked Ball of Chapter 11," is now published, and he
will be contributing another analysis of NAFTA Chapter 11, "Protecting
Investors, Protecting the Environment: The Unexpected Story of NAFTA Chapter
11," for a book on NAFTA and the environment to be published in late
2002 or early 2003 by Stanford University Press. Finally, Prof. Gaines
has been invited back to participate in the 2002 session of the Nordic Research
Association's Annual Advanced Seminar on environmental law to be
held near Stockholm in August.

Clinical
Professor Janet Heppard spoke on “Family Law Enforcement:
Habeas Corpus & Right to Possession” at the 2nd Annual
University of Texas Family Law on the Front Lines Conference in Galveston
on April 11-12th. In June, Prof. Heppard will be a panelist, along
with Judge Philip Caroom (Annapolis, Maryland) and Ms. Ayn Crawley
(Director of the Maryland Legal Assistance Network, Baltimore) at the 39th
Annual Association of Family & Conciliation Courts Conference in Hawaii.
The panelists’ topic is “Helping Pro Se Litigants Help Themselves.”

Adjunct
Professor Kathy Hile spoke on April 11th to the Texas
Motor Transportation Association's Annual Meeting in Austin about
fraudulent insurance claims and how to reduce workers' compensation claims.

Professor
Lonny Hoffman was retained by the State of Texas to write
a amicus Brief to the United States Supreme Court in Syngenta
Crop Protection v. Henson (No. 01-757), to be argued later this year -
After filing, the brief will be available on Prof. Hoffman’s website.

Professor
Peter Hoffman successfully negotiated the Law Center’s participation
in the American Bar Association’s Central & East European Law
Initiative (ABA/CEELI), supported by the U.S. Department of
State’s Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, whereby mutual
two-week student exchanges between the Law Center and Serbian law schools
will occur over the next two years. Prof. Hoffman recently visited Serbia as
an ABA/CEELI participant. Also, Prof. Hoffman was on the faculty
of a National Institute for Trial Advocacy-sponsored trial training
program for Legal Services attorneys held at Drake University Law School
on April 3rd -7th.

Professor
Paul Janicke’s article on the history of the United States
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s creation, “To Be or Not To
Be: The Long Gestation of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit (1867-1982),” was published as the lead piece in the March
symposium

Professor
Craig Joyce received the 2001-2002 Ethel M. Baker Award
for Outstanding Service to the Law Center. Prof. Joyce is this award’s
first two-time winner. In addition, adoptions of Prof. Joyce’s text, Copyright
Law, increased from 48 to 68 during the past year.

Profesor
Ellen Marrus, along with Frank Birchak and students from the Criminal
Prosecution and Defense Clinics, helped Social Work graduate students
learn how to testify as expert witnesses, how to handle depositions, and
how social workers and attorneys can work together.

Professor
Geraldine S. Moohr will present a paper, tentatively titled "The
Relation Between Property and Theft" to the Law & Society Conference
in Vancouver next June, and her article, “The Problematic Role of Criminal
Law in Regulating Use of Information: The Case of the Economic Espionage
Act,” has been published by the North Carolina Law Review.
Also, Prof. Moohr was cited by the United State Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit in U.S. v. Handakas (2002 WL 449536) for the proposition
that the honest services provision of the mail fraud statute is void for vagueness
as applied.

Adjunct
Professor Kent Newsome spoke on “Due Diligence in Real Estate
Transactions” at the University of Houston Law Foundation Seminar
entitled Real Estate Documents, Workouts & Closings,
in Dallas on March 28-29th and Houston on April 4-5th.
Prof. Newsome also spoke April 12th at the Brazoria County Bar
Association in Angelton on the topic, “Legal & Ethical Issues in
the Acquisition & Development of Real Property.” Prof. Newsome will
speak on “Artist Management Contracts” at South Texas College of
Law's Sports & Entertainment Law Conference on April 26th.

Professor
Raymond T. Nimmer’s article, “Licensing in the Contemporary
Information Society,” was published in 2002 Washington University
Journal of Law & Policy 1 (2002). Prof. Nimmer also Chaired
a Practising Law Institute program in New York April 18-19th
on “Internet Law & Electronic Contracting,” and Co-Chaired
a program on “Digital Commerce” March 4-5th in Frankfurt,
Germany, sponsored by the publication Computer und Recht. Prof.
Nimmer delivered the Keynote Luncheon Address March 8th
at the Georgetown University School of Law program in Washington on
Computer Law, and on March 15th, spoke on “Digital Property
Rights” at the National Association of Information Science’s Annual
Meeting in Philadelphia.

Professor
Michael A. Olivas delivered the Keynote Address at the
University of Houston’s Research & Scholarship Day (“Why
Do Faculty Do the Things They Do?”). Prof. Olivas also lectured at Cornell
University's Higher Education Research Institute (“Faculty &
the Law of the Classroom”), and presented the Keynote Address
at the St. Mary's University Law Alumni dinner (“The Life of the
Law”). Prof. Olivas was recently nominated for re-election as an At-Large
Council Member of the American Bar Association’s Legal Education
& Admissions to the Bar Section, and Dean Rapoport also named Prof.
Olivas to serve as the Law Center's Associate Dean for Student Development,
which begins in September.

Professor
Laura Oren was a planner/organizer, along with Professor
Thomas Oldham, History Professor Steven Mintz and Education
Professor Augustina Reyes, and with planning assistance from Professor
Ellen Marrus, of the April 19th2002 Tenneco Lecture
Series Community Symposium: Families in Crisis - Meeting Unmet Needs:
Strategies for Helping Children, Families & Schools. This Symposium
is also sponsored by various University of Houston Colleges, Departments
& Programs, including the Law Center, Education Department,
Urban Principals & American Cultures Programs.

Professor
Jordan Paust’s article, “Antiterrorism Military Commissions:
Courting Illegality,” was published in 23 Michigan Journal of International
Law 1 (2002). A follow-up essay, “Antiterrorism Military Commissions:
Commentary on Ad Hoc DOD Rules of Procedure,” will appear in 23
Michigan Journal of International Law, no. 3 (2002). Prof.
Paust was a featured speaker at Penn State Dickinson School of Law
on March 28th about the proposed military commissions, prisoner
of war status, and problematic rules of evidence.

Dean
Nancy B. Rapoport spoke in Kansas City on “Creating a Winning
Team,” at the Annual N.A.L.P. Meeting and also on “Images of
Lawyers in Film” in Atlanta for the Atlanta Bar Association.
Dean Rapoport also has some talks on Enron scheduled. Media relations regarding
Enron take a lot of the Dean’s time right now. Dean Rapoport’s belated article
for the Hofstra Law Review, “The Intractable Problem of Bankruptcy
Ethics: Square Peg, Round Hole,” just finished page proofs.

Adjunct
Professor Gus Schill will speak May 4th to the Trans-Pecos
Bar Association in Fort Davis on “Contemporary Legal Ethics.”

Professor
Jon S. Schultz and others made a sabbatical accreditation visit
to the University of California - Los Angeles Law School on behalf
of the American Bar Association and the Association of American
Law Schools, and completed a report to those organizations.

Professor
Ira B. Shepard spoke on “Recent Tax Developments” to the
Exxon Mobil Upstream Tax Attorneys on April 4th in Houston,
and was asked to give a humorous after-dinner speech, but managed to get in
a plug for the Law Center's LL.M. Program in Taxation. Prof.
Shepard spoke on “Real Estate Tax Update” at the University of Houston
Law Foundation Course on Real Estate Documents, Workouts and Closings
on April 5th in Houston, and on April 8th, on “Current
Developments in Federal Taxation” to the Wednesday Tax Forum.
Prof. Shepard participated on Professor Richard Alderman's Channel 8
(PBS) program on April 15th, along with Law Center
Professor Johnny Rex Buckles to answer federal income tax questions.
Prof. Shepard will speak to the American Petroleum Tax Institute on
“Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation” on April 23rd
and, on the following day, Prof. Shepard and Adjunct Professor Dan
Leightman (VP - Taxes of Cooper Industries) will speak at that Institute
on “Ethics for the Tax Professional, with an Emphasis on the Enron Situation.”
Finally, on April 25th, Prof. Shepard, along with Professor
Martin J. McMahon (University of Florida Law School) will speak
on “Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation” to the University
of North Carolina Tax Institute in Chapel Hill.

Professor
William P. Streng, this semester Visiting Professor at The
University of Texas - Austin teaching Federal & International
Income Taxation, published a tri-annual update 2002-1 to Bittker,
Emory & Streng’s Federal Income Taxation of Corporations & Shareholders,
(with Forms) (4th ed, Warren, Gorham &
Lamont/RIAG, 2 vols), and has delivered 2002-2 for publication. Supplement
Release 33 for Streng & Salacuse’s International Business
Planning: Law & Taxation; United States (Matthew Bender, 6 vols)
was published, and Supplement 34 has been delivered for publication.
Prof. Streng’s 3rd edition of Retirement Planning - Tax &
Financial Strategies, (Warren Gorham & Lamont (RIAG), prepared
with Adjunct Professor Mickey Davis as co-author, will be published
shortly and will replace the Second Edition (2001). In May, Prof. Streng will
participate in meetings of The International Academy of Estate & Trust
Law (Academie Internationale du Droit des Successions, des Trusts, et
des Fiducies) in Rome and, in June, will participate in the Annual
Meeting of the European Association of Tax Law Professors in Lausanne.

Professor
Ronald Turner’s 2000 Emory Law Journal article on
labor and employment arbitration was cited and quoted by Federal District
Court Judge Sargus in Hess v. Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., 2002
WL 483564 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 27, 2002). The court's opinion, setting forth Prof.
Turner's position on the enforceability of pre-dispute waivers of an employee's
statutory rights, also notes that Prof. Turner teaches at the University
of Houston Law Center.

Clinical
Professor Joseph Vail presented a paper March 22nd
to the American Immigration Lawyers Association in New Orleans on the
impact of recent Supreme Court decisions in the immigration law area. In May,
Prof. Vail will give a presentation to the Federal Bar Association
on ethics in the practice of immigration law and, in June, on political
asylum in the U.S. to the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s
National Conference in San Francisco.

Professor
Jacqueline Weaver was invited to a week-long judges’ and academics’
conference next August on "Energy, Terrorism, & Technology"
in Bozeman, Montana, sponsored by the Foundation for Economics & the
Environment. Other conference participants include Professors Philip
Heymann & Thomas Schelling of Harvard, Cato Institute
speakers, and chief economists and strategic planners from multi-national energy
companies. On April 18th, Prof. Weaver, along with Energy,
Law & Enterprise Institute Executive Director Michelle Michot Foss
were featured participants at the annual Chapa-O’Quinn Lectures on
“International Energy for the 21st Century.”

Professor
Stephen Zamora will speak April 29th, comparing United
States and Mexican judicial systems, at the Border Law Enforcement Conference
in San Antonio, organized by and including Texas Attorney General John Cornyn,
and also including the Attorney General of Mexico and other United
States and Mexican law enforcement experts.